And the winner is……

Viewers have been captivated by the fourth series of The Insurance Apprentice in which eight apprentices battled it out to win the title of The Insurance Apprentice 2018.

The announcement of the winner took place last night, 22 March, at a star-studded event at The Venue in Sandton when Noxolo Dlamini, Marketer at Mirabilis Engineering Underwriting Managers was announced as the winner of The Insurance Apprentice 2018.

Rise above your circumstances

The very entertaining guest speaker, Lucky du Plessis (radio presenter on 94.7), kept the audience busy with his life story and motivated the apprentices to always make the best of whatever situation they have been placed in and to always try and rise above their circumstances. Never look back and always find the silver lining.

During the evening Simon Colman, Executive Head: Digital Distribution at SHA Specialist Underwriters - aka Judge Dread, had the opportunity to explain the judging process and share some of his experiences during filming week; just to give everyone a clear view of what happens behind the scenes. In pointing this out, Colman reminded the audience that they see 30 minutes of a whole day of action and might not get to see critical footage.

Rianet Whitehead, Editor of FAnews and the creator of The Insurance Apprentice, also had her chance to talk about what is clearly her passion. “Showcasing the insurance industry to people outside of our world, and seeing young people grow and learn is my passion. Every year is different, and better, and hopefully we can grow this to something beyond our wildest dreams.”

A word of thanks

FAnews would like to thank Innosys, the main sponsor of the event and co-sponsors Auto & General, Chubb, Discovery Insure, Santam and SHA Specialist Underwriters. 

We would also like to thank our prize sponsors Lloyds, Masifunde Training Centre, Inseta, the Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) and Tracker. The winner of The Insurance Apprentice 2018 will fly to London, in business class, for a week to visit Lloyds of London, sponsored Lloyds of London; the winner also received a bursary valued at R75 000 from Inseta and won a cash prize of R20 000 from Masifunde Training Centre. The Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) is also sponsoring the winner to go to the Insurance Conference at Sun City in July 2018. 

Masifunde Training Centre also sponsored two bursaries for the two runners up worth R27 000 each and Tracker South Africa sponsored prizes for the second and third places. 

One-minute videos

During the evening guests were treated with a short snippet of each apprentice during filming week, and these videos can be watched online. Guests were also reminded of who the top three apprentices are – Kutlwano Kgoebane, Noxolo Dlamini and Samantha Baleson – with the winner being announced as Noxolo Dlamini… the audience was amazing and made Dlamini feel very special. 

In her acceptance speech, as the 2018 Insurance Apprentice winner, Dlamini thanked her fellow apprentices for walking the journey with her and thanked everyone for their support. “I have no words to describe the feeling of winning The Insurance Apprentice 2018. It is such an honour to compete against the best and win,” she said. 

The final episode (episode 8) sponsored by Innovation Group, will be released sometime at the end of March via the FAnews and The Insurance Apprentice websites, YouTube and Facebook. The date will be confirmed shortly. Thank you, Innovation Group. 

Congratulations in order

FAnews would like to congratulate Dlamini on winning the title of The Insurance Apprentice 2018 and all the finalists; Blessed Nxuseka (Discovery Insure), Gobusamang Motaung (AIG South Africa), Joseph Mngenela (InsuranceSupermarket Insurance Brokers), Karl Oftebro (Bay Union Insurance Brokers), Kutlwano Kgoebane (Aon South Africa), Samantha Baleson (Aon South Africa) and Venette Rust (RSAM Short Term Insurance Brokers) for undergoing tough challenges and for proving that they are the insurance industry’s young talent and cream of the crop.

“Your perseverance and desire for success have put you all a cut above the rest! With determination, passion and ambition, the sky is the limit,” said Whitehead.

Our 2018 sponsors

We would like to thank all the sponsors for their sponsorship and support of The Insurance Apprentice 2018. Each and every one of you played a significant role in this initiative from the beginning. Without you, the series would not have been possible, and we cannot begin to say THANK YOU enough. We have had quite a few first time sponsors this year, which we are extremely grateful for, and are looking forward to getting even more first timers on board next year.

The sponsors are Aon South Africa, Auto & General, Chubb, Discovery Insure, Emerald Africa, FNB Insurance Brokers, FSB, Hollard, IISA, Innosys, Innovation Group, Inseta, Insure Group, Lloyds, Marsh Africa, Masifunde Training Centre, Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa, Price Forbes, Santam, Sasria, SHA Specialist Underwriters and Tracker.

Previous episodes

Did you miss one of The Insurance Apprentice episodes? Watch it:

1. Episode one: sponsored by Aon South Africa
2. Episode two: sponsored by Sasria
3. Episode three: sponsored by Hollard
4. Episode four: sponsored by Emerald Africa
5. Episode five: sponsored by Marsh Africa
6. Episode six: sponsored by Inseta
7. Episode seven: sponsored by the FSB